St. Petersburg’s IndyCar race is looking for a new title sponsor after Honda unexpectedly announced it was ceasing its partnership with the event.

Tim Ramsberger, president of the race, said organizers learned of the decision earlier this month.

“Honda has been a sponsor of our event for the past nine years,” Tim Ramsberger, president of the race, said in a news release. “We learned ... that they wouldn’t be returning but are grateful for their support over the years and are pleased by the way in which the event has grown during this time.”

The St. Pete event, on a 1.8-mile street circuit on the city’s downtown waterfront, remains the opening series on the 2014 IndyCar schedule. The three-day event, slated for March 28 to 30, features festival-like entertainment and several races in support series. Tickets go on sale Dec. 1. It will be billed as the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg until a title sponsor is secured, the news release said.

Ramsberger said the city and the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce remain “fully behind the event,” as are many other partners, uncluding Firestone, Bright House Networks and Duke Energy.

“They’ve all experienced first-hand the many benefits of the event both on-site and through the visibility of a global television audience,” he said. “We’re at the cusp of a new era for our event and I’m confident new and existing partners will step up and enjoy the growing benefits the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has to offer.”

Honda remains title sponsor for IndyCar events this season in Birmingham, Ala.; Toronto; and Lexington, Ohio, according to the series website.